The green-ish bubble

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Note: Ken Paulman is off this week. B. Adam Burke, Jeff Kart and Molly Priesmeyer will be guest posting.

My picks for the most promising green energy news items from the past week:

1. Are we fueling ourselves on ethanol? Ethanol tax credits may be dissolved early in a US Senate compromise announced Thursday. Corn ethanol is barely green, many call it unsustainable, and subsidies aren’t needed when high gas prices make biofuels almost profitable.

2. The European Union takes hard look at biodidesel. Reuters published findings from some leaked papers studying biodiesel in the EU. Negative climate impact and land-use effects from growing and manufacturing biodiesel were found to largely cancel out its benefits.

3. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that in the first quarter of 2011 all “renewable” energies provided more BTUs of energy than nuclear. There’s some valid argument over why we’d compare BTUs of nukes when we might compare electricity production but it’s just like when the stock market hits a round number. It’s the idea of it- renewables beats nukes. What’s next? Fossil fuels.

4. EPA rule will cause coal plants to cleanup or close down. As old coal closes up shop, new energy will be needed. While natural gas is the front-runner to replace dirtier coal, it’s a tough sell when its steep climate impact is considered.

5. Investors are officially giddy for green-tech. One investment manager says alt-energies are getting close to an “economic tipping point,” making them competitive with traditional and fossil-fuel technologies.

In his comeback, infamous investor Gordon Gekko tells his protégé Jacob Moore (Shia LaBeouf), “Green is the new bubble,” and he doesn’t need to do too much convincing. From the start of the movie LaBeouf ‘s character is hyping a hydrogen fusion experiment that his scientist friend has cooked up.

"What are you, some kind of energy freedom fighter?"

While we probably won’t see any hydrogen fusion power plants being proposed anytime soon these promising signs point to greener and cleaner energy in the days ahead.

Beer and bread aren’t the only products that rely on the transformational powers of yeast. The prospects for cellulosic ethanol becoming a commercially available clean transportation fuel could also hinge on yeast’s ability to ferment corn stalks, switchgrass, wood chips or other fibrous feed stock.